St Pierre RCMP short staffed

St Pierre-Jolys RCMP Staff Sgt. Ron Poirier explained at Tuesday’s Taché council meeting the difficulty his detachment is having with keeping a full contingent of 11 officers not including himself or his two corporals who cover mostly administrative duties. There are currently five available officers to patrol a 1,500-square-kilometre area with over 40,000 people living in DeSalaberry, St Pierre, Taché, Ritchot, Niverville, and parts of Hanover.

"If it gets to a point where it’s absolutely critical – and I say we’re close – I can imagine the division will send us relief on a temporary basis. That’s probably the best way I see. There’s no official federal plan to address these situations," Poirier told Taché council.

The situations according to Poirier are maternity leave, paternity leave, and medical situations forcing officers to take time off or be bound to desks in the detachment office. The detachment has had to cut back on pro-active efforts like speed limit enforcement with a parked cruiser and a radar gun on highways in order to respond to all the calls for service it gets. School liaison work has also been cut back.

Potential speeders should know that highways are still patrolled, even if it is often by another detachment. Headingly RCMP have been keeping a presence in Taché according to Poirier’s quarterly report to council. Over 1,400 tickets were issued by the Headingly detachment during the same time St Pierre RCMP were writing up over 800 tickets. Lac du Bonnet officer have also been called in to do some overtime work for St Pierre when its own officers are unavailable for the extra work.